Last week, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) returned from Havana advocating "business ties" with Castro's monopolies.

Ironically, in the two-years that he served as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Udall held only one hearing on the region -- in June 2013 on U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation.

Meanwhile, Udall's trip to Cuba was the first (and last) official trip he's taken to the region as Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman.

During this three-day trip to Cuba, Udall (to his credit) spent two-hours meeting with Castro's American hostage, Alan Gross.

"New Mexicans are anxious to meet and work with Cubans, and the time is right to rebuild business and cultural ties between the United States and Cuba."

Of course, he "forgot" to mention that all foreign trade with Cuba must be conducted through Castro's monopolies.

So why didn't Udall explore -- on behalf of "anxious New Mexicans" -- business ties with Chile, Colombia, Peru, Panama or any of the other 33 democracies in the region, during his tenure as Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman?

A look at Udall's voting record provides some clues.

He's voted:

NO on trade with Peru.
NO on trade with Central America.
NO on trade with the Dominican Republic.
NO on trade with Chile.
NO on trade with Colombia.
NO on trade with Panama.